“This is, without any doubt, a positive catalyst for Whirlpool,” he said on an investor conference call.

Nearly six months later, the company’s share price is down 15%. One factor is a separate set of tariffs on steel and aluminum, imposed by the U.S. in March and later expanded, that helped drive up Whirlpool’s raw-materials costs. Net income, even with the added benefit of a lower tax bill, was down $64 million in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.

In his next call with investors, in April, Mr. Bitzer struck a cautious tone. “There continues to be uncertainty regarding potential future tariffs and trade actions,” he said. “We’ll continue to monitor, evaluate and take the right action for our business.”

Put into practice, tariffs are a complex economic weapon that can ricochet through an economy in ways even proponents don’t expect. That’s what happened with washing machines, which were among the first consumer products targeted by the Trump administration.

In the months since washing machine tariffs took effect in February, LG and Samsung have pressed on with investments in the U.S., given that they now face the higher cost of shipping goods in from abroad. The overseas companies and Whirlpool have also increased hiring in the U.S. But appliance prices have risen for consumers, and there are signs of waning demand.

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“Raw-material costs have risen substantially,” Mr. Bitzer said on the April investor call, primarily blaming steel and aluminum tariffs. Most of the 200-pound weight of a washing machine is in its steel and aluminum parts.

A spokeswoman at the Benton Harbor, Mich., company declined to answer more detailed questions about the tariffs’ effects, saying Whirlpool needed to remain silent before it announces second-quarter earnings in late July. She declined to make Mr. Bitzer or other executives available for comment.

The administration has imposed tariffs on $92 billion of imports including washers, solar panels, steel, aluminum and a range of goods imported from China. U.S. trading partners, including the European Union, Canada, Mexico and China, retaliated in like sums.

Quick Cycle

U.S. consumer prices for washers and dryers have begun to skyrocket…

…while shipments of all models for the U.S. market, a proxy for sales, dropped in May by the greatest percentage in more than six years.

Change in shipments from a year earlier

Three-month change in prices

40

%

20

%

30

15

20

10

10

5

Home

laundry,

total

0

0

–10

Clothes

washers

–20

–5

’10

’15

2006

’17

’16

’18

2015

U.S. consumer prices for washers and dryers have begun to skyrocket…

…while shipments of all models for the U.S. market, a proxy for sales, dropped in May by the greatest percentage in more than six years.

Three-month change in prices

Change in shipments from a year earlier

40

%

%

20

30

15

20

10

10

5

Home

laundry,

total

0

0

–10

Clothes

washers

–20

–5

’15

2006

’10

’17

’18

’16

2015

…while shipments of all models for the U.S. market, a proxy for sales, dropped in May by the greatest percentage in more than six years.